Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 828 Whaling
"What I mean is, you don't have to regard the current Mrs. Cui as your father's wife!" Yan Liang said with a smile: "It's enough to pay for it when father is still alive. We can just treat it as sons and deal with it superficially. We are not confused at heart. !”

Hearing this, Sutuo smiled noncommittally. He knew that Yanliang's previous words were just foreshadowing, and the only thing that really mattered was the last sentence.

"Brother, we brothers were all in Namba Capital when we were underage. After we became adults, we each had our own errands. You were in Japan, Hu Liang was in Chang'an, and Yuanbao and I stayed with our father for a long time. This is not the case now. Everyone has their own place to go? Even if Aunt Cui wants to do something, she can’t do it!”

"Sutuo, you are still the same solid person as you were when you were a child!" Yanliang laughed: "That Aunt Cui spent time with my father day and night, and she can be a pillow blower. Now my father is still young and strong, and he will not be blown away by the pillow blow. But people will always grow old. How heroic is Han Gaozu? Doesn’t he still have Mrs. Qi in his old age? Who knows if my father will be drunk and take advantage of us brothers? "

"Then what can you do?" Sutuo said with a smile: "It's okay to pay it back to others. You and I don't know about my father's ability and prestige? Don't look at it, brother, you are now the king of Japan in a country, very majestic. What if my father had an edict?" I'm afraid you, the Japanese king, won't be able to sit still!"

Hearing Sutuo say this, a trace of displeasure flashed across Yanliang's face, and he immediately smiled and said: "That's right, so we brothers should unite together in advance, but we can't be instigated and kill each other when the time comes! Also, we can't Let Father Cui be the only one around, preferably with a few more women, and let them fight by themselves, then they won’t have the heart to deal with us!”

"How many more women?" Sutuo was stunned when he heard this, and then laughed: "Brother, you are talking nonsense again. My father is not a womanizer, and Aunt Cui does not follow her father for only a day or two. She is the daughter of the Cui family in Qinghe, that’s why she has her current status. Even if you bring a few beauties to your father’s side, you won’t be able to threaten Aunt Cui!”

"Haha!" Yanliang smiled: "Others can't do it, but what about Mrs. Yun? Can't she do it either?"

"Mrs. Yun? Are you talking about the one from Baekje?"

"Who else besides her?" Yan Liang said with a smile: "She and her father are friends in times of need, and they have a deep love! Moreover, Uncle Sancho also married her maid, and the Onishi clan is still a descendant of the Baekje royal family. If When she gives birth to a boy for her father, how can she expect that woman named Cui to be so arrogant? "

"Then he's in Zhouliu now, so what's the use of all this?"

"It all depends on people!" Yan Liang said with a smile: "I have sent someone to Zhouliu, sent a generous gift, and also brought a letter to Mrs. Yun. As long as she has this intention, I will definitely stand by her. By the way, Yuanbao and Huliang won’t object, now it’s up to you, Sutuo!”

Hearing Yanliang's plan, Sutuo couldn't help but feel a little unhappy. After all, Yanliang seemed to regard himself as the leader of such brothers, and used himself as a pawn to benefit himself at will. This was not treating himself as a fool. Thinking of this, he smiled and said: "My father asked me to go to sea to colonize. It is not certain whether I can come back safely this time. I will not interfere with what you said, brother!"

Hearing Sotuo's refusal, Yan was slightly angry in his conscience, but after years of experience on the throne, the city was already deep, and his joy and anger had long been out of shape, so he suppressed his anger and said with a smile: "Since you said so, dear brother , That’s why Brother Yu is talking too much. Those things you just said are just nonsense, Sutuo, don’t take it to heart!”

"That's natural. Brother, you also know that my mouth has only eaten and not spoken since I was a child, so why worry about it!"

"Oh? If that's the case, then as a brother, I'll be relieved!"

At this point, the two brothers laughed together.

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When Sutuo returned to his residence, Chongjing sat cross-legged in the corridor, doing the breathing exercises of the day. Sutuo did not disturb the other party, but also sat cross-legged on the smooth wooden floor of the corridor and waited quietly. Finally, when the afterglow of the setting sun fell on the cherry blossom tree crown in the yard, Chongjing finally took his last long breath and opened his eyes.

"Sir, when did you come back?"

"Just now!" Sutuo said with a smile: "Brother Yanliang and I chatted for a while, and we came back a little late!"

"What's wrong?" Chongjing saw something was wrong with Sutuo's expression: "What did your brother say?"

"It's nothing!" Sutuo forced a smile: "It's just a little housework!"

"I'm afraid the young master's housework is more than just housework, right?" Chongjing smiled: "I'm afraid your brother is not just satisfied with being a mere Japanese king, right?"

Sutuo hesitated for a moment: "Brother didn't mention this! But he talked a lot about my father a hundred years later!"

"That's right!" Chongjing said with a smile: "It would be strange if he didn't think of this at this time! Then how did you answer him, sir?"

"Of course I can't answer him casually about this kind of thing!" Sutuo recounted what he had just excused himself from by going to sea to colonize: "But my brother didn't say anything about his own territory!"

"Of course he won't say anything at this time!" Chongjing sneered: "On the surface, he is complaining for you and attacking Mrs. Cui, but in fact he is targeting Mr. Sheng. In the end, you, Yuanbao, and Huliang The young master has no territory of his own, and the number of warriors and troops is far outnumbered by his. Only Mr. Sheng is the son of the general's wife and a descendant of the Cui family in Qinghe. After occupying the land in Hebei, he will be his number one contender for your father's inheritance. As a powerful enemy, he will naturally have to pay more attention. "Brother, is it too early to prepare?" Sutuo asked, "My father is still in his prime. Why is he worried about letting his father know about it?" ?”

"Hey, since ancient times, there are not many people who have made people stupid." Chongjing sighed: "What's more, what you left behind is thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, and the wealth of the country! Young Master, you'd better not get involved, the water here is too deep. Even if you are the son of a great general, you will be killed if you are not careful!"

"I know this!" Sutuo nodded: "Even if I want to compete for my father's inheritance, it's still too early now. Instead of getting involved, it's better to focus on building up the colonial foundation first. Only when you have the capital in hand can you be qualified to talk about other things. !”

"Okay, that's good if you have this idea!" Chongjing said with a smile: "But this is actually a good opportunity for you. If you make any request to your brother at this time, he will definitely not refuse!"

"Yes! I understand. There happens to be a shortage of people at Zhenbei Fort. Tomorrow I will ask Brother Yanliang for a few hundred immigrants. He will definitely not refuse!"

As Chongjing expected, Yanliang did not refuse several requests made by Sutuo the next day. After being repaired and repaired, the expedition fleet left Nambazu, then passed through the Kii Channel between Shikoku Island and Honshu Island, sailed into the vast Pacific Ocean, and then followed the coastline of the northeastern side of Honshu Island. Drive all the way northeast. As the route extended to higher latitudes, Sutuo saw that the scenery on the shore became more and more desolate and desolate. Often, not a single village could be seen for several hours, only dense forests, swamps, meadows and bare cliffs. Occasionally, Only then can we see a few scattered figures walking through the wilderness. Not to mention the sea, except for seagulls and various fish, there is nothing to see, as if time has returned to the beginning of creation.

"This is the Ezo land!" Soda pointed to the deserted coast not far away and said: "Despite the desolate appearance here, this land is actually very fertile. Many rivers and mountains are rich in gold sand! The Japanese often send troops Go to Ezo to conquer and extort tribute from eagle feathers, gold sands and all kinds of furs!”

"Is there gold sand here?" He Wu's eyes widened: "So there are gold mountains in this Ezo land? I heard that there are gold mountains in the upper reaches of the rivers with gold sands. Those gold sands are brought down by the river water from the upper reaches!"

"That's right!" Sutuo said with a smile: "There are indeed a lot of gold mountains in this Ezo land, but private mining is prohibited. Because the Japanese country has laws, all gold mountains are owned by the court. In other words, they belong to my father! Anyone who dares to privately mine Anyone who mines gold and silver mountains will be punished with a serious crime, or at least be exiled!"

"Ah——!" There was a look of disappointment on He Wu's face, and Sutuo smiled when he saw this: "But gold mining is legal, and in fact, gold mining is also good. Although it is hard and dangerous, as long as you are lucky, you can find gold in the sand." There are many people like this in Nambazu who work hard in Ezo for three to five years and can return with gold sand worth thousands of copper coins!

"Yes!" He Wu said with a bitter smile: "You can make a fortune by hunting whales, you can make a fortune by gold mining, you can make a fortune by doing fur business. I have heard about it countless times in the tavern of Nambazu, but it's a pity that I just heard about it. , I don’t know when it will be my turn!”

"Captain, you care too much about money!" Chongjing on the side said with a smile: "There are too many things in the world that we don't want, and being like you only adds to the trouble!"

He Wu had known about the relationship between Chongjing and Sutuo for a long time. He pursed his lips and thought to himself that if you, an old man, hugged Master Sutuo, you could stand aside and make sarcastic remarks. Don’t you know that all the people in the sea are eating young people? He is already old, but he doesn't have much money in his pocket. If he doesn't make a fortune in the next few years, his old age will be miserable.

"Whale, whale!"

The shouts of the lookout came from the mainmast. He Wu took off his hat excitedly and looked into the distance, but all he could see was a piece of dark blue water.

"Are you sure? Did you read that correctly?" He Wu shouted loudly to the mast.

"I can confirm that, look to the southeast, about three miles away, I have seen water jets spraying out. There are at least three of them. This is a pod of whales!"

The deck was boiling, and every sailor climbed desperately to higher ground, trying to determine the existence of the whale group. The news that whaling can bring huge wealth has already spread to everyone's ears, and the impulse to make a fortune makes everyone's blood boil.

"Turn to the southeast! Raise the sail!" He Wu shouted loudly: "Everyone is in position, prepare ropes, harpoons, short spears and speedboats!" Then he smiled at Sotuo and said: "Sir, this delay It won’t take long, and it’s also a good thing for the sailors to make a fortune, which will allow them to sell more energy in the future!”

"Okay!" Sutuo smiled: "I also miss the old days on the whaling ship!"

A few minutes later, the sailors on the deck saw a water column rising into the sky. There was a burst of cheers on the deck. The sailors quickly placed the two hundred-foot-long rope prepared in advance in a special wooden barrel, and also Harpoons, spears, and buoys were moved to the small rowing boats on the side of the ship, and then the creaking pulleys were shaken to lower the small rowing boats to the sea. Then the sailors quickly rowed the oars to level with the whales. Cross out the location.

At this time, the whales that had finished taking a breath sank back into the water, and they would wait until the next breath to resurface. The interval between this time was about ten minutes. When the rowing boats approached these giant beasts, the sailors They all held their breath and tightened their grip on their weapons until the distance between them was close enough. The helmsman of the first rowing boat, who had been sitting on the bow, would throw the harpoon - and the frightened whale would immediately dive into the water, raise its huge tail fin high, and then snap it down, splashing Mountain-like waves arose, drenching people on nearby rowing boats. Then it kept diving, and as it dived, the whaling rope at the end of the harpoon was pulled so fast that it even rubbed the bitt until it smoked. The panicked sailors were afraid that it would burn, so they poured seawater on it.

When the injured whale emerged from the water again, all the boats gathered around him - the buoy had marked his approximate location. The sailors stabbed it with a special javelin - the blade of the javelin was four feet long, so polished that it could cut fingers with just a scratch. Experienced sailors shouted to aim behind its broad fin - that's where the whale's vitals are. The pain-stricken giant beast began to struggle and jump wildly. At that time, it could easily smash the nearby small boat. The whole whaling process lasted for a long time. Every time the whale was stung, it dived into the sea and had to wait for it to float again before attacking. This was repeated more than twenty times before the giant beast floated on the sea exhausted. , it was getting dark at this time, the sailors on the ship had been rotated twice, and three people were injured, but fortunately no one died.

"What should we do now?" He Wu asked Sutuo. The giant beast floating on the sea was almost as big as the Herring. It made painful screams from time to time, and blood gurgled from the wound into the sea. Even in this state, people felt a real sense of awe. It is the admiration of human beings for the creatures at the top of nature.

"It seems we have to work all night!" Sutuo said with a smile: "With so much blood flowing into the sea, it will definitely attract many terrible guys. Let people light the torches in the bottom cabin. Everyone is divided into three shifts and takes turns. Work!”